3 Zalman Power Supply Units Roundup. Page 6

Today we are going to introduce to you three newest power supply units from a well-know manufacturer of PSUs and cooling solutions – Zalman. Our tests showed that these three products definitely deserve your closest look especially if you are about to go for an advanced high-performance system and value low noise and excellent cooling.

Zalman ZM400B-APS

This is the newest PSU from Zalman coming in a colorful box, although different from the package of the ZM400A-APF. The contents of the box remained the same, though. We have a 400W PSU in a black case, a power cable, a user’s manual and a ZM-MC1 adapter.

The unit itself is different, however. Just look at the connectors: besides the ordinary seven PC plugs for IDE devices, the unit offers two connectors for SerialATA drives – you don’t have to use adapters anymore. Moreover, the maximum load current on the +12V power bus has increased to 12A, while other parameters remained the same.

The internal structure of the device requires no comments. As you see in the snapshots, it is analogous to that of the above-described ZM400A-APF. Moreover, the PCB marking reads “ZM400A”. In other words, the difference between the models is reduced to the availability of the SerialATA connectors and the higher output current without any significant changes in the circuitry. So we turn to the testing part right away.

The fan and the thermal regulator where this fan is actually attached don’t differ from those of the previous PSU. It is the same quiet NMB 3110GL-B4W-B30 blower that changes its speed from 1230 to 2050rpm depending on the wattage. As you see, the difference in the absolute speeds is small, while the curves showing the dependence of the speed on the load are just identical.